Net worth matters more than income when it comes to financial anxiety, survey finds

Making more money may seem like the answer for dealing with financial stress and anxiety. But new data indicates that boosting income alone may not help much.

A new survey of 1,875 U.S. adults by investing app Acorns found financial anxiety does not significantly decrease as incomes rise. What did help ease respondent's minds, based on the survey results, was having a higher net worth, found by subtracting a household's liabilities from its assets. 

Just over half (51%) respondents earning less than $20,000 a year reported feeling financially anxious, while 46% of people earning between $60,000 and $80,000 a year reported the same, Acorns found.

Sixty-five percent of Americans with a negative net worth (more debt than assets) reported experiencing financial anxiety. Forty-three percent of those with no debt and assets and 47% of those with a net worth between $75,000 and $250,000 said the same.

"What we're talking about with a lower net worth is honestly how much money do you literally have, and what could you have the potential of pulling from if you 100% needed to," says Aja Evans, a financial therapist. "If you have a lower net worth, then there may not be as many areas for you to get the necessary cash, and that can really increase people's financial anxiety."

The survey findings offer more insight into the widespread financial stress and anxiety Americans are grappling with.

As overall inflation starts to outpace wages, many consumers are relying on credit cards and loans to cover their expenses and a growing number of workers are tapping their retirement savings for cash, recent data from Fidelity shows.

A higher income may help individuals avoid some of those moves, but may not reduce their stress levels. That could be due to high debt loads and monthly payments weighing on them or the fear that a high salary could go away without much warning in the event of a layoff, Evans says.

"It's more about your individual sense of security, your individual sense of safety, your individual sense of, 'hey, can I take care of myself or my family if something catastrophic happened to my finances?' that's where the financial anxiety comes from," she says.

Erika Rasure, chief financial wellness advisor at financial wellness and debt consolidation company Beyond Finance, agrees and adds, "When you're finding yourself in those situations, you often, from my perspective, lose the cognitive bandwidth to make clear financial decisions."

When the "emotional burden of money" and your overall mental health are intertwined, Rasure says, the weight of something like debt is "going to follow you into your sleep and your relationships to your job to your physical health, like you cannot escape."

Even individuals who do have high incomes or net worths can experience financial anxiety.

About 43% of Americans with a net worth between $500,000 and $800,000, and 24% of those with a net worth of $800,000 or higher report financial anxiety, Acorns found. Of those earning $150,000 a year or more, 26% said the same.

It's very common, Evans says, especially with factors like an ongoing war, fears around AI, the threat of layoffs and rising prices happening all at once. But that doesn't mean individuals should take drastic actions with their money.

"Please do not make financial decisions or move any money financially when you are feeling stressed out or in crisis," Evans adds. "It's going to be shortsighted, and that's not good for you or your financials."

"There's stuff you can't control over here, that's OK, but what can you control in this present moment?" Rasure says. "Allow yourself to really re-center and ground and re-group, and make financial decisions, whatever they are, from a place of clarity instead of fear."

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